Making the initiative process usable - Brief Article

In some states, initiative rights are so limited, so difficult to use or so subject to being undermined by branches of government that they seldom are used.

WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT usable initiative processes in all 50 states. Why? I think John Talley of Longview, Texas, summed it up best, "There are those occasions under our form of government when the interests of the represented and the interests of the representatives are at odds. The initiative is the means by which the represented assure that their interests ultimately prevail."

Americans in 24 of the 50 states enjoy the right of initiative on a statewide basis. But in some of these states, initiative rights are so limited, so difficult to use or so subject to being undermined by branches of government that they seldom are used. This raises the question: What are the essential elements that make a statewide initiative usable?

Understanding what elements are essential will enable citizens living in the other 26 states to work toward implementation of the initiative processes.

If any of the following 11 elements is missing, a state's implementation of the initiative process will be flawed:

1. Voters must have the power to propose and enact laws and resolutions that have the same force and effect as those enacted by the legislature.

2. Voters must have the power to propose and enact constitutional amendments. To avoid all initiatives being proposed as constitutional amendments, these should be more difficult -- that is, require more signatures to be placed on the ballot.

3. The information on the petition should be the minimum necessary for voter understanding and for signature verification. (This would include the initiative proposal summary and the full text, voter name printed, voter signature, home address, county, city and ZIP code.) If a government employee prepares a title or summary for the initiative, such a title or summary must be agreeable to the initiative proponent(s).

4. The number of signatures required should be substantial enough to show public interest, yet low enough to be collectable by well-organized volunteers, e.g., 4 percent of the total voting for governor in the last gubernatorial race for proposed laws and 6 percent for constitutional amendments.

5. The time allowed for collecting signatures should be two years, with the provision for an additional 60-day remedy period if more of the signatures (needed for the initiative to qualify) turn out to be unverifiable than was anticipated. A two-year period for gathering signatures permits citizen groups without large sums of money to propose an initiative.

6. The initiative tide and summary wording that appear on the ballot should be the same as the initiative title and summary wording on the petition.

7. Petition turn-in deadlines should be at least four months prior to statewide general and primary elections so that ample public debate of the issue can take place.

8. A proposal approved by the majority of those voting on the issue becomes binding within 30 days of being approved (unless specified otherwise in the proposal).

9. Changes to an initiative approved by the voters should require approval by the voters.

10. The amendment establishing the initiative process must include a "self-executing" clause to ensure that the initiative process takes effect without any further action by the legislature.

11. Proponents of initiative proposals must have standing to defend in court proposals enacted by the voters. Their standing should provide for an expedited path to the state supreme court and reimbursement of all legal costs.

In states where initiative proposals are limited to a single subject, a 12th essential element needs to be added: The constitution must specifically instruct that the single subject rule is to be interpreted in the broadest possible terms. Without such a constitutional mandate, government agencies will, at taxpayer expense, always be appealing to the courts for a perverse ruling to thwart the will of the people; for instance, arguing that an initiative on the single subject of taxes violates the single subject rule because it may apply to all taxes

Any statewide initiative implementation that includes the above elements will be a usable citizen initiative process. It will not provide state referendum, recall of state officers, initiative power for municipalities or counties, voter pamphlets for every household or public disclosure of initiative funding. However, it will be an initiative process that could be used to obtain these (and any other tools of citizen self-government) if the legislature does not want to provide them.

Numerous state constitutions contain the words "All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit." Those words will remain just words until we implement usable statewide initiative processes in all 50 states.

Mike Ford is a businessman, recently retired, living in Austin, Texas. He serves as chairman of Initiative for Texas, a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation seeking to inform Texans on the benefits of the initiative process.

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